328 General Notices. 



Mr. Knight's Treatise on the Apple and Pear, and his papers in Dr. Ander- 

 son's Recreations, and in the Transactions of the Royal and Horticultural So- 

 cieties, have laid the foundation of a new motle of treating the art of vegetable 

 culture ; and, in connexion with the exertions of the Horticultural Society 

 of London while he was president, have called forth all those numerous new 

 kinds of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, with which our gardens are now 

 enriched or adorned. The volume before us comprises all the more valuable 

 papers written by Mr. Knight that have reference to horticulture; and, though 

 the doctrines they contain have long been embodied in elementary works, 

 their collection will be hailed with satisfaction by the vegetable physiologist, 

 as well as by the scientific gardener. 



The sketch of Mr. Knight's life occupies about 70 pages, and is instructive 

 as showing that his success was neither owing to superior education nor 

 favourable circumstances, but to his own energetic mind, and to his steady 

 perseverance in the pursuit of such objects only as he considered likely to 

 prove useful to society. 



We shall conclude this brief notice with a short extract from the Intro- 

 duction : — I 



" A taste for horticulture has for some years been so universally culti- 

 vated, that all classes are famiHar with Mr. Knight's name as a writer, and 

 the extracts from his papers which are found in many of the periodical 

 publications on horticulture and arboriculture of the present day, have caused 

 the readers of these works to be in some degree conversant with the particular 

 subjects on which he has treated ; and, though the value of the present work 

 may be diminished by the task of editing it having unavoidably fallen to these 

 who are ill-qualified to do justice to the undertaking, they are still cheered by 

 the hope that their imperfect attempt may, nevertheless, by making both Mr. 

 Knight's character and his writings better known, be the means of demon- 

 strating more fully to the world the constant and never-tiring exertions of his 

 mind in the pursuit of knowledge, and its application to purposes of practical 

 iitility, for the benefit of his fellow-creatures." (p. vi.) 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. General Notices. 



Caterpillars on Vines. — I have been very much troubled with a green cater- 

 pillar on the vines in one of my vineries for several seasons past, which is 

 very difficult to find, as it chiefly feeds by night, and is so nearly of the colour 

 of the vine leaves as scarcely to be distinguished from them. The best way 

 that I could discover for destroying these insects was, to take a lighted candle 

 into the vinery in the evening, and to examine the leaves which had been 

 partly destroyed, when I have generally found the caterpillar feeding on them. 

 In the daytime, I take the fumigating bellows with a very small quantity of 

 tobacco in them, and blow the smoke well in among the vines, which causes 

 the caterpillars to fall to the ground, where they may be easily killed. I kept 

 a few of the caterpillars till they came to maturity ; and, as I found by this 

 means that they were the produce of a small brown moth, I was very careful 

 to kill all the moths of this species that I saw in the vinery in autumn ; in 

 consequence of which, I am happy to say, I have seen none of the caterpillars 

 this season. — J. Catton. Rollison^s Nursery, Tooting, December, 1840. 



Steaming Mushroom-houses. — My mushroom-house is a small back shed, 

 10 ft. by 11 ft., open to the roof. At one end is situated the heating and 

 steam apparatus, which consists of a fireplace, with a flue 4 ft. in length, to con- 

 duct the smoke to an adjoining chimney ; and over the fire is placed a 10-gallon 

 boiler, open at the top, with a movable lid, and a tap to supply it with water 



